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She consulted the second sheet of paper she still held, though she knew its contents by heart. “Yes. He had a small patch of freckles clustered closely together on his upper right arm. We have been warned, though, that such a mark may have faded over the years.”
“No scars?” Sam was watching her closely.
She shook her head. “None that would have been large enough to have lasted. James never had any kind of surgery or stitches. He was only a year old when he was kidnapped.”
“Well, then I’m afraid you’ve had a wasted trip, Your Highness.” Sam heaved his bulky body off the desk and began to drag the front of his shirt free of his pants. “I have a surgical scar that was already healed when I was brought to the Sunshine Home, so they figured it had to have occurred at least three months before. It must have been a doozy when it happened, because they could still count the stitch marks. Twenty-one in all.”
She was horrified at the thought of a tiny baby undergoing such trauma. “At least three months before you got to the home?” she said, thinking aloud. “My brother hadn’t been missing that long before you both turned up at the Sunshine Home.”
She stood and examined the scar in the muscle just below his ribs, seeing that despite the age of the wound, it obviously had been a “doozy.”
“Good heavens. Surely a doctor would remember that kind of suture on a baby so young. Have you ever pursued it?”
Sam shrugged. “They checked it out when I was dumped, but nothing turned up. That was in the days before computers, so I imagine the search was a local kind of thing. I’ve never bothered,” he added. “Whoever left me there didn’t want me. I don’t need them now.”
She nodded, though she felt a small ache in her heart for the little boy whose hurt still showed. The ache expanded as it reminded her of another grown man with his own childhood hurts—No, don’t go there, Elizabeth.
Stepping back, she gathered up the papers and began to fold them before replacing them in her purse. “Sam, I’m sorry to have wasted your time. Thank you for seeing me today.”
“My pleasure, Your Highness.” He extended his hand and engulfed hers in a huge bear paw, holding it gently for a moment. “Good luck finding your brother.”
When she got back to the car, the driver was waiting as she’d asked. He immediately headed for her next destination, a small public airstrip where she had booked a commuter flight to Tucson and then a flight to the east coast where she would leave for the transatlantic flight to Wynborough. It wasn’t the most direct route she could have taken, but there was no power on earth that could induce her to go anywhere near Phoenix, not even to transfer from one airplane to another.
At the airport it suddenly dawned on her that she had the information that she and her sisters had been waiting to confirm for so long. Hurriedly, she sought a telephone and placed a call to Mitch Colton’s ranch where Laura Bishop still was staying with Mitch and Alexandra, coordinating the remaining leads on finding the prince.
“Laura? It’s Elizabeth.”
“Princess Elizabeth! Congratulations on your engagement.” Laura Bishop sounded as sweet and delightful as ever. “I’ll be seeing you soon, back in Wynborough. I can’t wait for the wedding and I can’t wait to meet Raphael Thorton!”’
“Laura, listen to me.” Elizabeth stopped and struggled to regain control of her voice, trying desperately to hold the tears at bay. She couldn’t bear to
talk about the wedding nor her dashed hopes of a lifetime of love. “I found Sam Flynn. He’s not the one.”
“He’s not…then the only one left—” Laura’s voice rose in excitement “—is John Colton! Alexandra’s brother-in-law!”
“Yes. Is he there? I need you to talk to him right away.”
“I can’t.” The secretary’s voice was regretful. “He’s still not here. Mitch and Alexandra have left messages in several locations for him, but he hasn’t contacted them as far as I know.”
“Tell them to send more urgent messages. We have to talk to him.” If she concentrated hard enough on the task of finding her long-lost brother, perhaps some of the devastating pain that pierced her heart would go away. Or at least become more bearable. “I’m heading back to Wynborough soon. Call me there if you have any new information. But be careful. I don’t want my parents to learn anything about this until we know for sure.”
When Rafe disembarked from the flight onto which he’d bullied his way earlier in the day, Roland stood waiting in the airport lounge, his blue eyes dark with worry.
“Rafe, sorry to greet you with bad news, but I don’t think she’s come here. At least not yet.”
Rafe nodded stoically. “Thanks for checking.”
“Father has someone looking at all the flights. If she does come home, you’ll know it.”
“All right.” He was so disappointed, he could barely force out the words.
They began walking through the airport.
“I was sure she was in love with you,” Roland said. “Was I wrong?”
“You weren’t wrong.” Rafe shook his head. “But I—I didn’t handle it very well, I’m afraid.”
“Is there any way I can help? Or would you rather I just shut up?”
